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Carbohydrates/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim pours cereal into a bowl. Moby (in small size) appears on the bowl's rim and waves a wand. The cereal turns golden, and Moby appears in life size next to Tim. TIM: Hey! Mmm, it's, cornier. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What exactly are carbohydrates, and are they all bad for you? From, Francy. Carbohydrates are a type of nutrient. These are substances that your body uses for energy and proper cell function. Images show nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, and water. TIM: Your body uses carbohydrates to store and transport energy. An animation shows energy going through a body. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right, carbs come in a lot of different forms, and some are healthier than others. The two major kinds are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. A split image shows milk, grapes, sugar, and candy on one side, and vegetables, corn, and broccoli on the other side. TIM: Sugars are called simple carbohydrates because they're the smallest carb molecules. The image shows milk, grapes, sugar, and candy. TIM: Glucose is the simplest sugar of all, and it's the most important fuel in plants and animals. An image shows a glucose molecule. TIM: Candy and other sweets contain sucrose, which is basically just table sugar. The images split in half. The top shows the glucose molecule, and below it are examples of sucrose: candy and a brownie. TIM: Other sugars include fructose, which is found in fruit; and lactose, which comes from milk. Images show an assortment of fruit in the fructose group on top, and milk and cheese in the lactose group. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, complex carbohydrates can be separated into two groups. One is the starches, which are chains of sugars. Corn, potatoes, and grain products like bread, pasta, and cereal all contain starches. Images illustrate the starches as Tim lists them. TIM: The other complex carbohydrate is fiber, or cellulose. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, as well as certain grains. Images illustrate the foods with fiber as Tim lists them. TIM: Fiber is an indigestible substance, it passes right through your intestines without breaking down. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Which are the bad carbohydrates? Well, in general you should avoid carbs that are quickly broken down into glucose. Glucose is also known as blood sugar because the glucose molecule is small enough to pass right through the walls of the blood vessels lining your intestines. An animation shows glucose molecules passing through the walls of blood vessels as Tim describes. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Right, your intestines generally break down simple sugars more easily than starches. An image shows the less complex molecular structure of glucose compared to the more complex structure of starch. TIM: And that's why you shouldn't overdo candy and other sweets. These foods cause a spike, or rapid increase, in blood sugar, which can eventually lead to weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease. An animation shows what a spike in blood sugar would look like on a graph. Below it are images of a person standing on a scale, a vial of insulin, and a human heart. TIM: Potatoes and white rice contain lots of starch and little fiber, so they cause these spikes, too. Fruit contains a lot of sugar, but they also have lots of fiber, so they don't cause big spikes in blood sugar. An image shows the blood sugar level spiking over images of white rice and a potato. The blood sugar level is flat over images of fruit. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, since fiber doesn't digest, it slows the breakdown of other carbohydrates, preventing spikes. You may have heard that you should eat natural whole grains. The reason is that they digest really slowly. An image shows grains. TIM: In general, the more processed a carbohydrate is, the less fiber it has, and the worse it is for you. Things like refined sugar and products containing white flour fall into that category. An image shows white bread, sugar, pie, and a bagel. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, pretty much anything is bad for you if you overdo it. And it is true that a lot of people eat too many carbs. An image shows the nutrient groups. The carbohydrates pop out. They include bread, wheat, and a banana. TIM: Some weight loss programs recommend avoiding them completely. Supporters of these diets say that your body can convert proteins, another type of nutrient, into carbohydrates anyway, so there's no real need to eat them. The carbohydrates group pop and vanish. The other nutrient groups remain: water, vitamins and minerals, fats, and proteins. The last one, proteins, increases in size. MOBY: Beep. TIM: No, they're right, at least about converting proteins to carbs. But most doctors agree that cutting out all carbs is not a healthy long-term diet. Cutting down on some of the "bad" carbs makes a lot more sense than just removing all carbohydrates from your diet. While Tim talks, Moby grabs the Frosted Corn Pellets cereal box. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Oh, those? Well that's different. I need those. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Science Transcripts